Recently, Prep 5 visited the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh.  This proved to be a wonderful inspiration for our Rainforest topic.  There were so many interesting things to see and do that the children found it difficult to highlight any one in particular.

Some observations:

‘The first thing that Cath took us to was a thing called the vanilla vine.  It looked like a big green sausage and it was very shiny.   I smelt it and it definitely smelt of vanilla.  I thought vanilla came from a bean so that is a fact for you to know.’
David McIntyre

‘I thought the blowpipe was amazing when Flora pretended that a balloon was a monkey and tried to shoot it.  I was surprised that the stick came out of the blowpipe!’
Joel Skipper

‘I was amazed at the Amazon lily pads.  I thought they looked so big that you could fit a baby on one without it drowning.’
Ben Montgomery

‘I thought it was interesting to find out about the bamboo plant.  This was my favourite plant.  I didn’t know that it wasn’t hollow but had discs inside and that the rings on the outside indicated the discs.  It was amazing to find out that it was stronger than wood and can be used in many different ways such as in an irrigation system.  It was interesting to see how a leaf caught water and then did itself a favour and dropped it down onto the roots so it could drink the water that had just fallen off.’
Guy Stewart

‘I found it amazing that there were so many plants.  Some of the ones I liked best were the air potatoes because they grow so high up and have little leaves that look like love hearts.  I also like the huge leaves because every now and then water would drip off and land somewhere on me!’
Jennifer Harkness

‘The last greenhouse was my favourite.  The tendrils were very interesting.  They reminded me of a French woman’s hair.  It was weird because all you do to plant them again is put them back on the tree.’
Evie Gammack

‘The cocoa beans smelt delicious.  What amazed me was how they smelt of chocolate and how they turned into chocolate.  What was also very interesting  was how many products came from the rainforest and how many different ways they could be used.’
Imogen Watson

‘My favourite part was…..  all the parts were so good that I can’t choose.  It was interesting to find out that the active ingredients in a medicine come from a poisonous plant in the rainforest.’
Flora Smith

Activities in the Prep School During Session 2008-09
Information for Prep 1 Parents
The Support for Learning Department